just a work in progress

The semester is more than half way over.  This is a great thing to ponder on, I have less than 50 days until I leave for Italy! My first trip over seas!

Less than a week after that I will have to move and started a summer semester, but right now I’m just thinking about how close this crazy semester is to ending and how close I am to drinking wine in the streets of my ancestors!

Jimmy could not believe, last night, that my semester was more than half way over.  I, having obviously felt the brunt of the work and craziness, can believe that it is moving so quick.  I often feel like the day has just begun when it is time to fall asleep on my bed at night.  It is a bizarre and unsettling feeling, I have to say.  I feel like most of us know this feeling.  I’m not about to believe that this is how it should be and that it is indeed a good thing.  Quite the opposite actually, it’s not really living.  Jim and I have been talking and trying to figure out together, what it means and how it looks to have more time for family and friends. 

We are starting to change our lives so that living is what work is worked around, and not work is what life is worked around. 

We obviously have the luxury of doing this because we are not married with kids or have any extreme debt.  I understand, that in America, this is usually not possible.  That does not mean I won’t take advantage of it while it is possible for me.  I feel like, though, if I start living like this now, I can take it with me into marriage.  Who knows.  This economy is certainly not helping us out, but I can still dream.

A few of my friends have been interested in the course that I am taking on The Simpsons.  I have decided to post what I wrote for my Mid-Term, to give them an idea of what we are discussing, learning and laughing about.

 I was given a list of questions and asked to choose three to exhaust upon in detail, here it is:

1)      Discuss Bart’s persona as a rebel.  Do you think his self-understanding (and the way this understandings plays out on The Simpons) supports Nietzsche’s claim that our identities are attempts to construct some sense of a chaotic world?  Does Bart “create himself” through his rebellious actions?

In the episode “Bart’s Inner Child”, I believe that the holistic persona of Bart as a rebel is revealed.  Throughout the seasons, Bart has been the character that breaks rules, challenges authority and unnerves Lisa.  It would seem that Bart does this to be his own unique person, aside from society and laws.  This is not the case, however, because as we see in the episode “Bart’s Inner Child”, when everyone else decides to leave rules and reason behind, Bart beings to think he has lost himself.  All that Bart’s identity was based on was doing the opposite of what others would do-or think they had to do, and finding security in being unique in living out that process.

Instead of paralleling with Nietzsche’s claim that our identities are attempts to construct sense for this world, Bart creates a self image that is shallow and easily lost.  Nietzsche hounds on the idea that:

“One thing is needful.- To “give style” to one’s character- a great and rare art! It is practiced by those who survey all the strengths and weaknesses of their nature and then fit them into an artistic plan until every one of them appears as art” (Gay Science p. 232)

In view of Bart’s persona, I see it defined as only an opposition to rules and authority and nothing more.  When his identity is lost, he does not “survey all the strength and weaknesses” of his inner self, he turns to Lisa for help.  For example, at the end of the episode “Bart’s Inner Child”, he seeks refuge in Lisa, who tells him that “this is your chance to develop a new and better identity.” his response being “…Just tell me what to do”. (Bart’s Inner Child)

            In conclusion, I do not believe that Bart “creates himself” through his rebellious actions.  He clearly follows a pattern of opposition and when that pattern is altered he is lost and upset. 

Word Count: 324

3) Is Mr. Burns a virtuous person?

If you analyze Mr. Burns by likeable, friendlier virtues, he would surely fall short of being virtuous.  However, if you view Burns from his role on The Simpsons as a business person and leader, you would see that he indeed has a virtuous nature.

According to Aristotle, there are conditions for right action and that is, “First [the agent] must know that he is doing virtuous actions; second, he must decide on them, and decide on them for themselves; and third, he must also do them from a firm and unchanging character”. (Ethics 1105a30 – 1105b) In the episode, “The old man and Lisa”, Burns looses all of his fortunes, then builds himself back up from scratch.  While most would want to give up when a situation gets so dire that you lose everything, Mr. Burns steps up to the plate and is ready to start anew.  According to Aristotle’s condition, Mr. Burns was aware that in order to gain back his business he needed to be looking for opportunities to do so, be hard working with his idea and also be able to motivate his employees.  Once he decided to follow through on this, he did not once waiver from his firm character and ultimately obtained his goal; he bought back the power plant.

This “rags to riches” experience proves that Mr. Burns is indeed hard working, opportunistic and proves that he has a strong will power. Aristotle’s golden mean would apply to his characteristics.  For example, the extreme’s of hardworking would be an excess of working and laziness and Mr. Burns’s point of greatest virtue, in this case, would be closer to the extremes of excess of working due the severity of the situation.

Mr. Burns is not a husband or a father and seems to have no friends except for maybe his assistant, Smithers, who seems to fear him more than love him.  This lack of relationships leaves Mr. Burns without the virtues of sensitivity or empathy for the people and things around him.  This flaw is what makes Lisa hesitate when deciding to help Mr. Burns and ultimately destroys their partnership in the recycling plant. I do not believe that you should hold the lack of these virtues against Mr. Burns because the innate flaws in every character of The Simpsons is what perpetuates the story from week to week.  If Homer lost his character flaw of ignorance, his role would change and therefore most of the predicaments of each episode would simply not exist. If Barney practiced temperance, he would no longer serve his role as a comedic drunk and so on and so forth. Mr. Burns has a role, a job and a life style that are conducive to his virtuous traits.

Word Count: 457

1)      Does Maggie have any heuristic value on The Simpsons?

At first glance, it does not seem that Maggie plays a significant role in The Simpson family, let alone having any heuristic value.  With a closer look, you can see that she indeed serves a function and has heuristic value.  In the book The Simpsons and Philosophy, one of the authors, Eric Bronson, argues that just because Maggie is unable to speak, does not mean she has nothing meaningful going on in her head or cannot interact with her world by having an important effect.  This misconception in common in Western thought; that values expression through words. This value in spoken words has been apparent since Socrates, who emphasized discussing and arguing ideas to obtain truth, and even as recent as the twentieth-century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who believed that a person’s life is understood by his/hers interactions and most of those interactions are done with words. 

In the episode “Tree House of Horrors VI”, Maggie saves her siblings from Willie by using her pacifier to seal up his spider suit vent, causing him to explode. Maggie defies Western tradition by not using words, but her through her silence; she acts to get reveal that she loves her siblings and wants to save their lives. Bronson’s view on Eastern thought is: “Words serve only to destroy inner peace. We become too attached to our words and easily talk away the grandeur and mystery behind our lives.” (Simpons and Philosophy pg. 42) Eastern enlightenment values silence and warns against foolish words.  Perhaps Homer should take heed to his daughter’s ways.  In my opinion, Maggie serves as an example of wisdom according to Eastern tradition.

In the episode “Itchy and Scratchy and Marge”, Maggie serves as the “canary in the mine” for the potential dangers of violent television.  After watching an episode of Itchy and Scratchy, Maggie sneaks up on Homer and hits him with a mallet. Because Maggie is so young and innocent, she often mimics the world around her without inhibitions.  This lack of inhibitions brings to light the subtle dangers that would go otherwise unnoticed.  Maggie is an understated focal point to which her family learns from.

Word count: 357

Well, a much, much, much needed break.

•  Lets recap the last two weeks before spring break in four words: Flu, Period, Lice, Mid-Terms.  

I’m going to say, that maybe that was not the best two weeks of my life. 

Now that I am indeed, over all of those things, I feel great and I am enjoying all things again.  I also have already gotten my grades back from mid-terms, and they were successful! Whohoo!

I heading into one of those times again, were your focus on lift shifts just a bit.  I am going to try to do what I want in more feasible parts of the day and care less/stress less about controlling or trying to be perfect, in some aspects of my life.  I feel like most of my unhappiness comes from feeling boxed up and controlled by bigger forces (ie. debt, school, parents) and therefore I lost focus nearly completely of what I want in life.  Well, I’m a big girl now, and I’m ready to make things happen.  Life’s too short!  -things are only as bad as you let them be-  Compromises are dangerous!

 This is not to say I’m going to quit my job and live as a vagabond, far from it!  But I am going to try to take control of the things I can, and let go of my worries about the things I can not control.  I’m going to try.

Oh here’s my new guitar that a gracious friend let me buy off him, and the a picture of Jim and I playing the new music we are writing together!  How exciting!

I struggle a lot with whether or not I should blog at all.  I don’t have an issue with what I write being available for the whole world to see, I have an issue with technology. 

I had the flu this week, which is actually a big blessing.  I laid around, and rested, while reading, drawing and listening to music.  These different form of the arts have been sacrificed in my busy life of trying to obtain a degree. 

Specifically, I made a zine this week. My first one in fact, as well as reading a book on the history and production of zines.  There was a part in the book where the author talks about how blogs have hurt the zine community.  I have to admit I got a little defensive when I read that. 

There is something to be said, for taking the time to creatively draw and write about life, in tiny books, that cost nearly nothing, then passing those out to friends.  This would be instead of signing onto a computer and typing out things and pressing a mouse button to publish.  How much more fun would it be to read a handwritten/drawn booklet I wrote about events than using your scroll button on the computer?

Can/should I do both?  I’m not sure.  What I do know is that I felt a lot more proud over what I produced with my hands, a pen, pencil and a piece of computer paper, over typing on a computer screen and all the convinences that brings.

I miss the satisfaction that doing things yourself brings.  Hand making things, washing things and creating things are really fulfilling stuff.  Being fulfilled is a very important thing, a feeling I can forget, at times, even exists.  I’m so busy!

These thoughts have been pressing the last couple weeks.  The fight in my head and heart over doing what I want and what I have to/should do, despite the consequence.

Jim and I are going on two months together.

This is the first time I have attempted a serious relationship in my life and this is also Jim’s first time as well.  I am going to use the “L” word, but please understand, Jim and I had a beautiful friendship for over a year before this relationship started and we only started a relationship on the idea that we both could see each other marrying.  Not a teenage fling, or a casual adult whim.  As I said before, this is for real for real.

I will process what we go through on here.

First observations:

Love is not always fun.

It is not always an emotion and is sometimes painful.

Love is a daily choice.

I need to wake up daily and remind myself where I put my time and energy and how I know this relationship is worth it.

 This relationship has made me look at God in a different way.

Perhaps my love for God and God’s love for me is not always an emotion or feeling.  Maybe that’s what I’ve mistaking for God’s existence and therefore, when it ceased being there in my life, I thought God was gone.

I want to make the choice to follow God, but something is holding me back.

Maybe the previous thought hasn’t rung completely true in my heart and mind.  I’m stuck on it for now.  I do know that I want to follow how Jesus lived and perhaps God and I will reunite in the process.

Oh and this my favorite picture of us: